


Against the World

by ChingKittyCat



Series: PSMD Rewritten [9]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, Conversations, Evil, Gen, Lies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:01:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28806981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChingKittyCat/pseuds/ChingKittyCat
Summary: He was so glad to have his friends from Paradise back. Now, if only he could talk to his saviors in person.
Series: PSMD Rewritten [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057577
Kudos: 3





	Against the World

Partner greeted Virizion with a broad hug. Virizion’s surprise was stilted, but she melted as much as a stoic person like her could. Keldeo trotted beside her, looking down at the little Pokemon who was latched to her.

“You’ve been making some new friends while I was out, huh?” Keldeo smiled.

“Not friends, per say.. But good acquaintances.” Virizon thought. “For now, anyways.”

“I’m so glad you two are alright!” Partner let go of Virizion, getting a eyeful of Keldeo now that he was unpetrified. Hero kept their distance respectfully, if only because they had to take care of their satchel.

“Those lands won’t be anything I’ll be forgetting any time soon.” Keldeo tried to keep cheerful. “It was certainly, uh,  _ unique _ .”

Virizion held a certain cloudy emotion behind her eyes. Hero couldn’t place its exact definition, but they could tell that she felt more than just relief about getting out of those horrible plains.

Keldeo didn’t have that same glint to his. If he felt the same, he certainly was doing well to hide it. Partner was ignorant to both of the two’s dispositions.

“Yeah, same with me.” Partner nodded. “Thankfully we won’t have to go back there anymore! Um, so, also, would you two mind if-”

“We will help you in healing the world’s population, yes.” Virizion dipped her head. “I have already talked to some of my colleagues about it, and they have also agreed to help.”

Virizion’s clouded vision cleared as she turned her head back towards her loitering friends, recently unstoned. They were all getting ready for an expedition— the time for hugs, tears, and planning had passed hours ago.

“We will be moving out shortly.” Keldeo informed.

“Oh, well, it was nice to catch up. I’m glad you guys want to help too!” Partner kept smiling. Hero’s heart softened.

Virizion remembered something, suddenly, and gasped. “Before we do, I just remembered. Hydreigon was looking for the two of you.”

“Hydreigon?” Partner cocked their head to the side. 

“Have you not met?” Virizion sounded just as confused. “He sounded like he knew Hero.”

Hero shook their head quickly. They explained curtly that they hadn’t met such a person before, at least, not in any way that had stuck in their brain. They were tempted to explain that they were an amnesiac but decided that such a dilemma didn’t need to be thrown onto Virizion.

Partner seemed to realize the same thing and almost jumped for joy.

“Well, we should go talk to him as soon as possible! Which one is he?”

Virizion pointed a hoof towards their darkly colored floating dragon friend. He looked mighty and intimidating. What sort of Pokemon did Hero get wrapped up with. They swallowed their dread, thanking Virizion and Keldeo for their advice, and they tailed after Partner to go meet the mysterious character.

Hero had been worried he would be just as cold as they thought he would be, but as soon as he saw them coming, he twisted his fangs into a surprisingly warm expression. He floated more down to their level.

“Hero! It’s so good to see you again!” Hydreigon laughed.

Partner remained quiet as Hero simply explained to him that they didn’t know who he was. 

“You don’t remember me?” Hydreigon seemed confused. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. That’s awfully normal for humans who turned into Pokemon, but I thought you got over that?”

“W-Wait, how did you know Hero was a human?” Partner sounded startled.

“Well, I’ve worked with them before! I guess after I left them to their business, they must’ve hit their head on something. But that’s alright! I guess we can start from the top again until they all come rushing back to you! My name’s Hydreigon!”

Hydreigon bowed, showing respect to the two world saviors. Then, he shot right back up. He laughed again for some reason, which even managed to overwhelm Partner with how cheerful he seemed.

“My name’s Partner!” The friendly laughter was contagious. “I’m Hero’s best friend! And, well, I guess you already know Hero. Me and them met in Serene Village and went to school together.”

“You went to  _ school  _ together?” Hydreigon sounded incredulous yet amused. “Well, I’ll be! Two school kids saved the world!”

Partner puffed up proudly from the acknowledgement. 

“Yup! Me and Hero beat every problem that came our way! There’s nothing we can’t do together! I’d save the world a hundred times over so long as Hero’s by my side.”

“I’m glad to hear. So, did Virizion tell you anything about me?”

“Nope. Just that you wanted to see us.”

“Oh, well, I guess I could tell you. See, I’m not really a Pokemon either!”

“You’re a human!?”

“Nope.”

“A VOIDSHADOW!?”

“N-No!”

“An alien?”

“Nope again.”

“Well, I give up- wait! A ghost!”

Hero thought ghosts were still technically Pokemon, considering there was a whole typing for them, but.. Uh, whatever.

“Sort of.” Hydreigon laughed. “Well, Xerneas is the Tree of Life. Me? I’m the Voice of Life. Xerneas speaks for the source of life on the planet, while I speak for the planet itself. Does that make any sense?”

“You’re the planet?”

“That’s basically the short version of it.”

Hero and Partner blinked, underwhelmed. Hydreigon hesitated before sputtering a little bit, expecting a bit more fanfare and shock than what he got.

“Well, I guess it is a little weird, right?” Hydreigon stumbled through the sentence.

“No, not really. I got told I was Mew the other day.” Partner said blankly.

“B-But I’m the planet?”

“Yeah?”

There was an awkward silence. Partner had taken Hydreigon’s confession a little too well. It was just as underwhelming and out of nowhere as the ‘you’re Mew’ confession from Xerneas. Like, what else were they supposed to do? 

Hydreigon cleared his throat.

“I guess since you took that well, I just want to let you know that I’m in your service for saving me and all life on me.”

“Did you hear that, Hero? The planet itself is thanking us!” Partner beamed.

Hero didn’t really believe any of this nonsense, to be honest. Then again, if this Hydreigon was friends with a Legendary and a Mythical who treated him like a friend, maybe he was to be trusted.

“I got a chance to watch your final battle against Dark Matter, too.” Hydreigon’s tone dropped slightly. “What Nuzleaf and the rest of them did was very brave, and what you decided to do was… Pretty game changing. I think both me and Xerneas were expecting you to destroy them.”

Hero could feel Dark Matter’s heat radiating through the satchel. It knew they were talking about it. Actually,  _ why  _ could Hero feel the heat? Dark Matter wasn’t on the side of the bag that was closest to their body.

They decided not to investigate. It wasn’t too important anyways.

“You’re not planning to destroy it, right?” Partner suddenly questioned, tone halfway accusatory.

“No! No, I’m glad you did what you did. It’ll make sure they never have a chance to regain power again. At least until they go dormant and revive again, but it’ll be a long while before that dormancy comes about.”

Hero recalled the whole ‘Dark Matter’s activity is based on the stars’ thing that Partner’d read. Xerneas had promised a generational imprisonment, so perhaps even when Hero and Partner were long gone, the world would still be safe.

“It just worries me that Dark Matter had Pokemon working alongside it. I know it’s not unusual for some Pokemon, Legendary or not, to stand beside world ending threats, but…” Hydreigon trailed off. “I think you should keep a close eye on Nuzleaf and the rest of Dark Matter’s old accomplices and make sure they stay away from Dark Matter. At least until you know, for sure, that Nuzleaf and all of them have gotten a better outlook on life.”

“Oh yeah, of course.” Partner nodded. “Dark Matter and Nuzleaf, they got into a confrontation a little while ago and Dark Matter attacked him. Xerneas saved him, but Nuzleaf probably got scared by it.”

The memory heavied Hero’s heart. Yet, recalling it brought on this faint numbness that made sure they didn’t cry about it.

“I’m not surprised.” Hydreigon shook his head. “Dark Matter did get betrayed by him, after all.”

“Well, Dark Matter was possessing him and the rest of them, they just managed to break out!” Partner sounded a bit more peppy now. “Dark Matter was just mad about someone breaking out of its control.”

“Um, what?” Hydreigon cocked his head.

“What?”

“Dark Matter… They  _ can’t  _ control Pokemon. They can do many things, but possession isn’t one of their skills.”

Hero’s eyes narrowed. Maybe that’s what Dark Matter told Hydreigon, but it was untrue. Nuzleaf was an innocent man who was stolen away into the back of his mind by an oppressive force of negativity. It wasn’t him acting out, it was some creature of darkness controlling him. He’d told them about the experience in graphic detail when they’d trailed after him, demanding an explanation. It was something that had traumatized him, something that had marred him, and most certainly not something he would ever lie about! Unlike Hydreigon, Hero knew Nuzleaf, and they trusted him. Why should they believe some random person who claims to be the  **PLANET** ?

Hydreigon seemed taken aback by Hero’s emotional outburst.

“Hero…” Partner said softly. 

Hero wiped the tears from their eyes. They couldn’t help it. It was disgusting and embarrassing. If only they could feel nothing but a snarling rage so that way this dragon would take them just as serious as one of their kin.

“I’m sorry, maybe I overstepped..” Hydreigon verbally backed off. “Could I ask if I could confirm this with Dark Matter? I mean, maybe they really did get a new power and I just didn’t know about it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Dark Matter is a liar and has been telling us all about how it can’t possess things even though it clearly can.”

“Please.”

Hero dropped the satchel for Partner to rifle through. Partner sighed as they undid the latch and dug through their items. They hissed in pain as they made contact with Dark Matter. It was burning hot, telling by Partner’s flinch. They managed to bring Dark Matter out, but had to drop it onto the ground. It was too hot to hold.

Hydreigon picked it up with ease. It zapped him furiously, but he stood strong. It’s like the electrocution was nothing more than some light ticklish paws at his face and arms. He waited for Dark Matter to say something, but when it didn’t, he sighed and picked up the conversation.

“Dark Matter, can you possess people?” Hydreigon questioned.

“isn'T IT oBvioUS?” Dark Matter growled.

“Well, yes, but I just wanted to-”

“yEs. i can PossEss ThinGS, VOiCe.”

Partner’s eyes widened in shock. What had caused the sudden change in heart? Hero guessed that it knew lying would cause it pain. The fake outburst at Nuzleaf had cost it, then the other arguments had cost its scraps of pride.

Hydreigon sputtered.

“Since when?”

“unHAnd ME.”

“But, what happened on the Tree-”

“IT wAS a LIE. I POSSeSSeD NUzLeAf SINce beForE hE mEt WitH His BRAT. ALl ACTiONS he MadE, I FORcEd hIM TO Do. thERE Is nO DeSPaIr greAtEr THAn sOmEoNE Who HAs nO COnTROl of tHeir sELf. HE FED me wElL SO I CoULD accOmPLiSH my GoAl, and MY goAL alone. ThaT is ALl. uNHanD me.”

Hydreigon sucked in some air through his fangs but obeyed. He deposited Dark Matter back into the bag. Hero eyed Dark Matter suspiciously as it was put back, still wondering why it decided to suddenly be honest.

“I guess I was mistaken.” Hydreigon blinked. “I apologize. I’m going to do some research on how to make sure Dark Matter doesn’t possess anyone else. I’m sure it’s probably documented somewhere.”

“Oh, would you? That’d be great!” Partner’s unease dripped into their enthusiasm.

Hydreigon looked thoughtful. That clouded look formed in his eyes, obfuscating and rolling. His brow furrowed for a moment, annoyance and disgust flashing on his features. It faded just as quickly as it’d come as soon as he smiled. 

“It was great to meet you two again. I even uh, learned something today! Well, I’ll be off. There’s a lot to be done, and I’m sure you don’t want me to take up any more of you two’s time.”

Hydreigon flapped his ribbon-like wings as he began to fly away. He waved.

“Make sure you touch base if you figure out how to stop Dark Matter from possessing people, Hydreigon!” Partner called.

“Of course!” Hydreigon chirped.

Hero watched as Partner and the dragon waved to each other. They couldn’t help but feel like they were… Something. They didn’t know how to explain it. Some combination of nothingness, anger, and a deep, profound sadness.

Partner hugged them.

At least they didn’t have to deal with any more bold-faced ‘possession’ lies. 


End file.
